Tractor.



W. STRAIT.

TRACTOR.

APPLICATION IILBD OUT. 3,1911

Patented Aug. 4, 1914.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

W. STRAIT.

TRACTOR. APPLIOATION PILED OOT. 3, 1911.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM STRAIT OF EAU'CLAIRE, WISCONSIN.

TRACTOR.

- Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 4, 1914.

- Application area October 3,1911. Serial No. 652,599.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that 1, WILLIAM STRArr, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Eau- Claire, \Visconsin, have invented a certain new and useful Tractor, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to a. motor driven I tractor designed especially for agricultural "raising one of the wheels of each pair so thatthe vehicle. may fi'eulty.

be turned WlthOIIt dif I Will now with reference to the acco npanying'draw- .ing which illustrates an exemplifying embodiment of the invention.

Figure 1 is a plan view; Fig. 2 is a side elevation; Fig. 8 is a fragmentary enlarged view of the roller support for one of the belts with the cover plate removed; and Fig. '4;- is atransverse section of the roller support. Fig. 5 is a detailed view showing the detachable plate secured to the sector. Fig.6 is a detail of the adjustable throw-off block applied to the elevating rack. T

'Reference character 1 designates the franie carrying near its rear ,end'the rear axle2. This may be a live rearaxle and provided with a differential'mechanism 3'. Driveshaft l may connect the differential with any suitable. motor mountedon the frame (not shown) r r v I At each si le of the machine, near the rear, is a tractor belt and necessary appurtenames; These are duplicates and only one need be described. The. tractor mechanism ,comprises driven sprocket 5 impelled by the ,axlejand .an idler sprocket 6; The idler is nrounted'lon a short .shaftv'spaced away from the 'drive. shaft. by radius pieces 7 which are also utilize'dto provide the housing for the roller support of the belt. The shaft of idler 6 is mounted ii -journal boxes which areadjustedon'seats ,9cof the radius pieces by means of screws; or, other suite describe my invention in detailable device. The tractor belt 12 passes around the drive sprocket-and idler and is of suitable width and may be of greatly varying construction, 'a preferred form as shown consistingof strips or slats extending all the way across the belt and provided near the center with suitable teeth to be engaged by the s rockets. Toinsure suflicicnt tractionun keep the belt in proper contact with the ground between" the sprockets, roller supports are provided, of which the housings 13, as above stated, are carried by radius members 7. l'Vithin the housing is the relatively long track'ltand between this track and the housing is a space or channel 15 in which therollers 16 circulate. The lower portion of the housing is open and the rollers as they pass rearwardly into this open portion of the housing. come between the track 14 land the belt I so that as the'belt moves rearward'ly it is carried by' the rolling members practically without frictionand uniformly in contact with the ground. The rollers are prevented from displacement when the belt is slackened for any reason bymeans of grooves 16 in the-housing and its cover 17 and studs or trunnious- 18 on the ends of the rollers engaging tnese grooves.

The roller support, in the arrangement shown provides practically a continuous support for the belt fromthe bottom point of the idler to the bottom point of the drive sprocket and this is possible because the sprockets'are'made relatively narrow so that the roller housing may extend from tread to tread of the sprockets as'described.

At the frontend theframe is provided with a steering head 20 in which is mounted a steering fork 21v carrying the main front sprocketh22. This sprocket is provided with radius members 23 and roller belt support 24 similar to the devices alre'adydescribed with reference to the rear traction belts. The ra (has members 23 support a front idler sprocket 25 and a belt 26 similar to the ones already described runs around sprockets 22, A worm and ear steer-mg mechanism 97," comprising-a shaft and hand wheel 28 convenient to the operator, are provided by which the ,front mam sprocket 22 may be turned for steering.

Evidently the long tractor belts in contact with the ground will afford a considerable obstacle to turning the vehicle, To overcome tliisdifficulty I haveprovided means ioo for raising one end 'of each of the belts whenever necessary in turning, or for other reasons, as, for instance, when running on hard ground. I

I-will first describe the means for elevating the front idler sprocket in connection with the principal steering function of the vehicle. The idler sprocket 25 is provided with a fork having a screw threaded stem 31 passing through a strut32 extending forward from and turning with the "steering fork 21 of the' 'main front sprocket 22. A hand wheel 33 engages the'screw 31 and abuts against the upper face of the strut. When it is desired to-turn the vehicle, in case conditions are such that it is necessary to raise the front end of belt 2,6,hand wheel 33 is revolved so that the idler is elevated and then the belt as a whole is turned in the steering direction by manipulating the steering wheel'28. At the same time the turning noovement may be facilitated by raising either or both of the rear idlers, whereforthe following devices are provided: Each of the radius members 7 is provided with two arms 40. A shaft 41 extending across the frame carries on eachenda sleeve 4l -and Jon each sleeve is mounted a hand lever 42. Eachsleeve 41 has two arms 43 extending 30 rearwardly and connected with arms 4O by 'links 44. The arms40 of the radius mem- 'bers are connected by a cross piece 40 and at thfe front of this cross piece are two lugs 40*; Sleeve 41 is provided with arearward and downward extending arm 41, which fits closely between lugs 40. Adjacent to each lever 42? is a notched segment 43. Theile- Ver'is'p rovidedw'ith a hand operated pawl.

44 igslj 2 and to engage'the notches of the segment. The lever sleeve 41 also has a downward eXtendingarm-45 and a spring 46 tensionedfbetween this arm' and'a fixed point on the frame-adds to the force of gravity in urging thelidlefr sprockets downward to insure a sufficienttraction. "To 'elevate the idler sprockets thenby hand, lever pawls 44 are raised and the 'leversf pushed forward and again. lockedr.t o support the idler's in an elevated positionlby; relasing the pawl which engagesa'suitablenotch in the segment. 'Similarly,toiincreasethe tractive cf fect of the idlers,-th *l ver ma .be pulled means of the pawl.

ing between lugs 40" give lateraksupport to v the tractors 1 at all times andprevent the w front ends of the belt supports from moving sidewise, "while at the same timethe idler sprockets may freely move up and down as described. Power-means are also'fsupplied for raising the idlers. drive shaft adjacent to each fwheelis provided with a gear 50. A link 51 connected to the short vertical arm 45 of each of the hand,

-levers extends tothe rear and adjacent to For this urpose the.

the gear 50 is provided with teeth 51 forme ing a rack to engage the gear. To bring the rack into engagement with the gear there is apedal lever 52 pivot-ed at 53 on the frame and provided with a pin or stud 54 underlying the rack. The lever'also has a foot piece or pedal 55 convenient to the operator. There is also for eachv tractor belt a throwofi lever 56 pivoted at 57 and provided with an arc-shaped segment 58 underlying the end of pawl 44. The rear end of this throwoff lever has a pedal 58* underlying the forward end of lever 52. The are shaped seg-- ment 58 has a free end or toe cut away as at 58 adjacent to the end notch of-the segment 43. i

To utilize the rotative efi'ect .ofthe drive sprockets 5 to elevate one of the rear idlers, the operator depresses pedal-55. This brings the rack 51' into engagementwith its gear 50 and at the same time the pedal lever 52 de presses peda-l 58 of lever 56 throwing up the segment 58 and releasing pawl 44 of lever 42 from the segment. Link 51 is now pulled to the rear by the rotation of gear 50. This elevates the arm .43 of the hand lever and consequently raises the front ends of the radius members 7 and the idler sprocket so that the belt engages the ground only under. the tread of the rear sprocket and turning maybe easily accomplished. The

may also discontinue the. elevation of the idlers at' any time by releasing pedal and thereupon the pawl 44 will also be released I and hold the idler in elevated position. While the pedal 55 is still depressed by the operator, the pawl 4450f the hand lever is released by the throw-0ft segment. 58.

it approaches the last forward notch of the segment, by reason of the pawlcoming to the cut-away portion 58 of the throw off member, the pawl thereupon drops into the last notch' and retains the lever and corresponding idler in elevated position. But to release the pawl andcause the idler to drop again at any time, it is only necessary to further'depress the pedal 58 which raises the throw-offsegment 58 still further and upon again raises the pawl 44" and releases itl'from the notch, whereupon the lever may move back to central position and the idler sprocket descend. If it is desired, a latch 60 may beprovided on the hand levenbywhich' the pawl may be retained permanently out of action and'in this case the vehicle maybe controlled entirely by the pedals so' that as soon as the pedal is released" the idler sprockets will be permitted to drop a ain into-contact with the ground and will t iere ,be held by gravity and the pull of spring tfi 'thefree end or toe of the segment there- 4 The pawls -14 of the hand 'levers are kept out off-engagement with the central notches of the ratchet segment by means of plates 60?, (Fig. 6) which are removably screwed or bolted to the segments. When these are in place, the pawls ride over the arc-shaped face of the plates but are free to engage the end notches in an obvious manner. When the plates are in position the levers and their pawls are usually controlled entirely by the foot pedals.

It is frequently desired, for the purpose of turning the vehicle, to elevate the idler sprocket (5 which on the inside of the turn, while the idler sprocket on. the outsideof the turn is kept down. By this means the vehicle at the rear is caused to pivot about one of the drive sprockets 5, while the tractor belt on the opposite side of the machine (the outside of the curve) is kept fully in contact with the ground to give full tractive effort. By this means, together with proper manipulation of the steering belt, short turns on rough or soft ground are easily made.

This maneuver is aecomplishedby proper manipulation of the pedals, the pedal 55 on the inside of the turn being depressed to raise the idler sprocket, while the pedal on the opposite side of the machine is let alone. But itis also frequently desirable to raise both of the rear idler sprockets so that the forward ends of the tractor belts are free from the ground at the same time. For this purpose a common pedal 60 is provided. '.l.- his is carried on cross piece 61. theends of \vhirh lie over pedal levers 52. Cross piece 61 is supported by bars or arms 62 which may conveniently be pivoted upon the' rear axle or any other sultable part of the ma-- chine. New by. depressing the common pedal (30 the operator may cause both of the lovers 52 to be depressed and both of the idler sprockets raised simultaneously by the power mechanism.

As shown in Fig. 6 the rack links 51 may in some cases be provided with steps or throw-otf devices to limit the elevating action of the gears. These steps may consist of plates SQ provided with slots 81 and adjustably secured to' the links by screws 82 passing through-the slots. The steps 80 overlie a portion of the racksand when the racks are moved rearwardly by the gears, at the proper point the gear teeth engage the stops so that the rack isfforced away from the teeth of the gear and the. gear then rotates idly with relation'to the rack without any further elevating effect and without injury to thegear teeth and rack It is to be understood that. manv variations in construction may be made within the spirit of my invention.

I claim:

1. In*a tractor, an axle, tractor wheels mounted thereon, idlerwheels, one in front of each tractor wheel, a tractor belt passing around each tractor wheel and its correspli nding idler, driving mechanism, elevating means, and means for connecting and disconnecting said elevating means with the driving nn-ichauism for elevating either idler wheel independently.

2. In a tractor. an axle, tractor wheels mounted thereon, idler wheels, one in front of each tractor wheel, a tractor belt passing around each tractor wheel and its corresponding idler, means for locking either idler in adjusted vertical position, driving mechanism, and means actuated by the driv lug mechanism for elevating either idler wheel independently.

3. In a tractor. a frame, a drive axle, a tractor beltmounted at each side of the frame and connected with the axle, driving mechanism. elevating means actuated by the driving mechanism for elevating one end of either tractor belt. locking means for sccuriugthe belt .in adjusted position, and controlling means for simultaneously controlling the elevating and locking means.

l. In a tractor, the combination of a driving sprocket. an idler sprocket, a belt passing around the sprockets, a roller support for the belt between the sprockets. a gear turning with the drive sprocket, a link haviug, a rack to engage the gear, means for engaging the rack with the gear, and con nections between the link and the idler sprocket whereby the latter is elevated when the rack is engaged.

5. In a tractor. the combination of a frame, an axle, a drive sprocket thereon, an idler sprocket, radius members connecting the sprockets, a tractor belt passing around the sprockets, arms extending forward from the radius member, a lever connected to said arms to elevate the idler sprocket, a laterally rigid segment member supported by the frame. and logs connected with said arms and embracing said segment member forlaterally supporting the front ends of the belt mechanism (3. In a tractor, the combination of a main frame. an axle,'tractor wheels. one on each side of the frame, an idler in front of each tractor wheel, a tractor frame connecting each idler with the axle, a tractoinbelt pass ing around each tractor. wheel and its idler, and means carriedby the main frame and engaging the tractor frames to prevent lateral motion of the free ends thereof.

7. In a tractor, the combination of a tractor belt, two sprockets therefor, a lever for elevating the front sprocket, a ratchet seo'nnmt, a pawl carried by the lever to en- 'oge the segment, a throw-oil member en gaging the pawl and a pedal to actuate said member.

8. In a tractor, the. combination of a tractor belt, two sprockets therefor, a lever gage the segment, a throw-oil member enmeans for the tractor belts,.a frame foreach framerand mcans'connecting each bell-crank sa'id tractor-beIts a v gaging and disengaging the rack'with theelevating means actuated bythe driving pulley therefor, a lever andxconnections to "driving mechanism may be caused to rotate- ,provided with-grooves in which thestuds tuated by said driving means for :raising' ofthe other, and means for positively'hold for elevating the front sprocket, a ratchet segment, a pawl carried by the lever to engaging the pawl and having an arc-shaped portion substantially co-extensive with the central notches of the segment, and having a cutaway end portion adjacent to the end notch in'thesegment, and a pedal toactuate said member;

9. In a tractor, the tractor belt,-a main pulley. and an idle! elevate theidler pulley, a lever pawl and a notched segment therefor, and :a movable. block'and means for applying it to the segmentto cover the central notches thereof.

10. The combination ofa main frame, a tractor belt on each side thereof, driving tractor'belt, belI-crankJS One pivoted on the mainframeat each side thereof,a link con-' necting each" bell-crank with; the tractor with the driving mechanism whereby the the bell-cranks and lift the "free .cnrllsot 11'. In tractor mechanism, the combination of a drive sprocket, an idler sprocket, a belt -passing,; around the. sprockets, and a roller support between-the sprockets for holding the belt; in 1 engagement with the ground, said support comprising a casing having a channelp-z therein, :rollers circulating I in x the. channeland engaging thebelt, the rollers. being provided with studs, the casing being engage to prevent displacementof the rollers:

' 12. In tractor mechanism, theIc-ombination of the drive sprocket and: idler sprocket, a; belt passing around the I sprockets, and power elevating mechanism, for elevating one end of the belt, said mechanism comprising a rack, a gear adjacent to; said drive sprocket engaging theraclc, means for en gear and a stop adjustably seci1redto the rack to cause disengag ment fromthe gear at a predetermined" point. I

18. In tractor mechanism,thefcombination of a frame, emesters a-t ea ch side thereof, tractor'driving means, andmeans ac one endof-either of the-belts independently the position of theother. v.

14. In a tractor, a frame, 1 M gf-axle,

a tractor belt at each'side of theframeandiconnected'=with the axle, driving mechanism,

ing down'jeither'of the beltsindependent of.

mechanism for raising one'end of'eitherof the belts, locking means for securin'gthe belts in adjusted position, and controlling means-for'simultaneously bringing said. ele-' combination of, a

.' for elevating one end of either of said belts,

' vating means into action and releasing said locking means, said controlling means comprising means for automatically causing said locking means to reengage at a certain point in the elevation of the belts.

15. In a tractor, the combination of a frame, a drive axle, driving mechanism therefor, a tractor belt at each side of the v.fra ne connected with the axle, elevating means actuatedby the driving mechanism controlling means for connecting said elevating means with the belts for elevating them, locking means for securingthe belts in elevated position, and throw-ofi means independent of said controlling means for vated to a predetermined point.

vl7. A tractorunit for tractors comprising a drive pulley,an axle therefor, an idler I pulley, a belt passing around the pulley, radius pieces, one on each side of the pulleys,

connecting the axle withthe idler pulley, ad-

' justmeiit means by which the position'of the idler; in relation to the radius piece maybe changed to vary the tension of the belt, endless roller channels in the radius pieces, and rollers circulating in the channels andin '-'engagement with the lower. stretch of-thc belt- ,to hold the same in engagement with the groundbetween the pulleys.

18-. A tractor unit for tractors comprising -a,drive pull y, an axle therefor, an idler pulley, a& belt passing around the pulley, radius pieces one on each side of the pulleys connecting the axle'with the idler pulley, androllers. carried byeach of-the radius pieces and engaging the bel'tnear the edges thereof to maintainthe belt in contact with the ground between the treads ofthe pulleys. -19.. A tractor unitfortractors comprising a drive pulley, in axle-: 'therefor, .an.idler pulley, a belt passingrflaround the pulley,

radius pieces'oneon each side of the pulleys connecting" the axle with the idler pulley,

nels being open at the bottom to permit the frollersto engage the belt near the edges thereof, the roller channels being constructed and arranged. so that the rollers engage .the'beltjand hold it 'firmly'in contact with the ground substantially the entire distance each of, the radiusv pieces being provided i with a roller channel, a -"series of rollers cirieulai'tin'g in each of the channels, the chanfrom thetread of one of the pulleys to that of the other.

20. In tractor mechanism, the combination of a frame, two tractor belts, one at each side of the frame and pivoted thereto near and means for positively holdin down either of the belts independent of t 1e position of the other.

\VILLIAM 'STRAIT. Witnesses:

D. M. SMITH, A. M. PAmuNs. 

